From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Kerry on Israeli TV: Criticism of Iran deal laced with ‘hysteria’
JERUSALEM (JTA) — U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Israeli television called criticism of the framework agreement with Iran “hysteria.”
“That is not a 10-year deal, that’s forever,” he said in an interview with Israel’s Channel 10. “There have to be inspections. There’s a lot of hysteria about this deal. People really need to look at the facts, look at the science of what is behind those facts.”
Excerpts of the interview were broadcast on Saturday night, with the full interview airing on Sunday night. The interview appeared designed to reach directly to the Israeli public to talk about the proposed agreement with Iran and how it would affect Israel.
“We ask people to measure carefully what the agreement is and wait until we have an agreement to make all these judgments,” he said.
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From PressTV
ICC dismisses Israeli claims of bias in war crimes probe
The International Criminal Court (ICC) has rejected Israel’s claims that the court may carry out a biased investigation into the Tel Aviv regime’s war crimes during its devastating military aggression against the Gaza Strip last summer.
ICC chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda told Israel’s Haaretz newspaper on Friday that The Hague-based court will launch an “unbiased” inquiry into the case.
The court will consider evidence brought by Palestinians against Israel “independently and impartially without fear or favor,” Bensouda said, adding that her “office will be guided by a policy of investigating and prosecuting those most responsible for the commission of mass crimes.”
The Israeli regime launched a 50-day deadly war on Gaza last summer that ended in August 2014 with a truce. The aggression left about 2,200 Palestinians, including 577 children, dead and over 11,100 others injured.
In April, Palestinians formally joined the ICC, a membership that enabled them to bring war crimes charges against Israeli officials.
Tel Aviv reportedly claims that institutions like the ICC are biased against Israel and thus prone to unfairly target the regime. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said the regime will not allow the Israeli soldiers to appear at the ICC and face potential war crime charges.
Joining the ICC also opens up the possibility for Palestinians to challenge Tel Aviv’s illegal settlement expansion in the occupied territories besides taking the regime to task for its war crimes during the 2014 military aggression against the Gaza Strip.
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From Russia Today
S. Arabia bombs Yemen with US-supplied cluster bombs – HRW
In recent weeks the coalition has used cluster bombs in Yemen’s northern Saada governorate, a region bordering Saudi Ararbia, which is historically controlled by the rebels, HRW said.
“These weapons should never be used under any circumstances. Saudi Arabia and other coalition members – and the supplier, the US – are flouting the global standard that rejects cluster munitions because of their long-term threat to civilians,” said Steve Goose, arms director at Human Rights Watch.
Cluster munitions contain hundreds of smaller explosive submunitions that are spread over a wide area. This type of weapon is dangerous because some subminitions aren’t immediately detonated and can lie dormant for decades before exploding. Civilians and particularly children have been historically the primary victims of such booby traps.
From Russia Today
‘Limited’ coalition ground force in Aden, Yemen, more coming – reports
A “limited” Saudi-led force is on the ground in Yemen’s strategic port of Aden and more troops are on their way, a government official has confirmed to AFP. About 20 troops have landed in the city for a “reconnaissance” mission, AP reports.
“A limited coalition force entered Aden and another force is on its way” to Aden, the official and commander told the agency on terms of anonymity.
The Saudi-led forces “will start helping us in fighting” the Houthi rebels, a leading member of the Popular Committees, also told the agency. The PC are a locally recruited militia loyal to expelled President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi.
Similar reports appeared in the local Al-Ghad daily, which claimed the ground forces have entered the airport. The newspaper is linked to southern separatists, who demand the restoration of the southern state that merged with North Yemen 15 years ago.
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From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Ethiopian-Israelis, police clash in Tel Aviv during demonstration
As evening fell on Sunday, protesters in Rabin Square threw bottles at mounted police and clashed with officers. At least 41 police officers and demonstrators were injured; several protesters were detained by police.
Police used anti-riot measures including stun grenades, water cannons and tear gas to halt the violence. Protesters overturned a police car, sparking a fire, according to reports.
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From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Congressmen call for sanctions to halt Russia missile sale to Iran
WASHINGTON (JTA) – Leaders of the House Foreign Affairs Committee urged President Barack Obama to consider using sanctions to stop Russia’s planned delivery of missiles to Iran.
Reps. Ed Royce, R-Calif., the committee’s chairman, and Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., its ranking member, sent a letter to Obama concerning the proposed delivery of the S-300 surface-to-air missile system to Iran.
“If completed, the transfer of this sophisticated weapons system would significantly bolster Iran’s military capabilities and introduce new obstacles to our ability to eliminate the threat of an Iranian nuclear weapon,” the legislators wrote.
While the United Nations Security Council does not prohibit the transfer of the weapons system to Iran, the Iran-Iraq Arms Nonproliferation Act and the Iran Sanctions Act do give Obama authority to sanction countries deemed to be aiding Iran’s efforts to acquire weapons, according to Royce and Engel.
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From The Times of Israel
In Ramallah, Jimmy Carter urges Palestinian elections
After canceling Gaza trip, ex-US president meets with Abbas, calls for Fatah-Hamas unity
RAMALLAH — Former US president Jimmy Carter on Saturday urged Palestinians to hold elections to end the de facto division of the West Bank and the Islamist-run Gaza Strip.
He was speaking at a joint news conference with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in the political capital Ramallah in the West Bank.
“We hope that sometime we’ll see elections all over the Palestinian area and east Jerusalem and Gaza and also in the West Bank,” said Carter, a member of The Elders, an independent Group of global leaders.
No election has been held in the Palestinian territories for nearly a decade.
From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Protesters in Tel Aviv call for Israel to legalize marijuana
TEL AVIV (JTA) — Some 1,000 protesters gathered at Tel Aviv’s Rabin Square called on Israel to legalize marijuana.
Dubbed the “Cannabis March” by organizers, the protest on Saturday night began near the district courthouse in the Israeli city and ended at the central square. Several politicians and activists addressed the crowd there between musical performances and poetry readings.
Among the speakers were Tamar Zandberg of the left-wing Meretz party, and Knesset lawmakers Yinon Magal and Miki Zohar of the right-wing Jewish Home and Likud parties, respectively. Former Likud Knesset member Moshe Feiglin, an outspoken proponent of legalization, also spoke.
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From The Times of Israel
Israeli city asks court to OK ban on Jehovah’s Witnesses event
Ra’anana municipality petitions judiciary over Christian gathering following fears of adherents proselytizing
The city of Ra’anana in Israel’s center petitioned the country’s high court to allow it to prevent two gatherings by some 1,000 followers of the Jehovah’s Witnesses Christian sect.
The petition, filed Thursday, follows a district court’s ruling against the municipality’s ban on the events, one of which was scheduled to take place two weeks ago. The second event is slated for Saturday at a municipal event hall that the city leased to the organizers of both events, Ynet reported.
Activities in Israel by Jehovah’s Witnesses, whose members engage in door-to-door proselytizing, have raised vocal opposition by Jewish groups and communities opposed to such practices.
The city of Ra’anana, a relatively affluent suburb of Tel Aviv where one in every five residents is Orthodox, cited the prospect of “serious disruption of the public’s sensibilities and offense to their beliefs” in its petition to the high court to allow it to ban the events.
In the petition, the city also claimed that the Jehovah’s Witnesses concealed the exact nature of the events before striking the contractual agreement with the city for the use of its event hall. The city received $4,800 after the contract was signed in January.
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